This project investigates how people consciously perceive and experience their own heartbeats from a neurophenomenological perspective. Its starting point is that simply measuring the accuracy with which a person detects their heartbeat doesn’t reveal how they experience it.
Two people can show similar accuracy in detecting their heartbeats, yet do so through very different experiences: they may feel the beat in different parts of their body, perceive it with different qualities and intensities, use cognitive strategies or mental imagery, or experience different emotional states while performing the task.
To study these differences, the project integrates brain activity recordings using electroencephalography (EEG) with micro-phenomenological interviews, designed to characterize in detail the subjective experience during heartbeat perception. The goal is to determine whether different ways of experiencing the heartbeat are associated with specific patterns of brain activity and connectivity.
From a neurophenomenological perspective, the project seeks to systematically relate first-person experience to third-person brain dynamics, allowing us to understand the perception of the heartbeat not only in terms of how precisely it is detected, but also how it is consciously experienced.